Top Ten for the Weekend

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In a surprising sprint of productivity, there has been new content on Black and Bookish almost every day this week! It's not my usual speed, but I had too much on my mind to keep it to myself. Let's get to the Top Ten!
1) I posted my review of Warsan Shire's debut book, Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth. Her poetry was featured in Beyonce's new visual album, Lemonade.

2) Speaking of which, OMG Lemonade! I couldn't stop thinking about it, so I wrote this and you can read in case you missed it. You can now buy her album on iTunes.

Astrid being goofy

I wanted to add some other perspectives to this conversation because it's about stories. My two favorites articles on Lemonade:

4) I Will Do Better By My Sisters by Ezinne Ukoha. Another love letter to black women and being a part of a tribe. I related to her struggles in this moving article.

5) The husband and I watched the premier episode of United Shades of America staring W. Kamau Bell. The premise is he goes to different places in America, meets different kinds of people, and he uses humor to deal with race relations in tough situations. The first episode was his interactions with Klansmen in Kentucky! Never thought I would witness a cross burning lighting, and on tv for that matter. You can watch new episodes on CNN, Sundays at 10pm.

6) 2 Dope Girls is a comedy radio podcast staring Jessica Williams (The Daily Show) and Phoebe Robinson (Broad City). It features up and coming comics in NYC, and it the best laugh you'll have all week. Black women talking about love, life, and all the craziness of living in the Big Apple. You can listen to them on iTunes.

7) Rachel Dolezal is back in the news! Just a recap, she is a woman who says she identifies as black, but has no ancestral ties to Africa. She recently announced a book deal, which still has some people scratching their heads. Here is clip from an recent BBC taping to explaining why she, who has two white parents, identifies as black.

8) Not to completely overwhelm you with Melissa Harris-Perry, but Thursday morning she delivered this powerful speech, How Our Country Fails Black Women and Girls, to the Congressional Caucus for Black Women and Girls.

9) Roxane Gay has been chosen as the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature keynote speaker. She has a new book coming out this summer, Hunger, but in the mean time, you can check out her interview with TimeOut. I reviewed her most recent book, Bad Feminist earlier this year in March. Read it here if you missed it.

10) I have a feeling I'm missing some titles because I wasn't diligent in really keeping track of when I bought something. Here is my list of books acquired in April:

Negroland by Margo Jefferson

She's Just Not That Into You by Aryka Randall

Assata by Assata Shakur

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs

David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell

Brazilian Nights by Odie Hawkins

Kings of Earth by Joe Ponder

Octavia's Brood edited by Adrienne Maree Brown and Walidah Imarisha

Poetic Situation by Noel Jones

Poems for the Smart, Spunky, and Sensarional Black Girl by Rachel Garlinghouse